Paris. India’s armless archer Sheetal Devi performed brilliantly in the women’s individual compound open ranking round here on Thursday and finished second, giving her a direct entry into the round of 16 of the Paris Paralympics. 17-year-old Sheetal from Jammu and Kashmir was born without arms and she arches with her feet. Sheetal scored 703 out of 720 points and finished second behind Turkey’s Oznur Girdi Kure. Oznur set a world record for the ranking round with 704 points.
Sheetal had also surpassed the ranking round world record of 698 set by Great Britain’s Phoebe Paine Paterson this month but was later overtaken by Oznur. Sheetal shot 59 shots on 10 marks, out of which 24 were on ‘X’ (center of the target). Oznur scored 10 marks 56 times in a match of 72 arrows, out of which 29 were on ‘X’. The top four archers in the ranking round, including Sheetal, have been given a bye in the Round of 32 and will now participate in the Round of 16 on Saturday.
Sheetal will face the winner of the Round of 32 match between Chile’s Mariana Zuniga and Korea’s Choi Na Mi. Both these archers finished 15th and 18th respectively in the ranking round. Zuniga won the silver medal in the women’s individual compound open event of the Tokyo Paralympics. Another Indian archer participating in the event, Sarita, finished ninth with 682 points. She will face Malaysia’s Abdul Jalil Noor Jenatan in the Round of 32 on Friday.
Sheetal created history last year by becoming the first Indian woman to win two gold medals in the same season at the Para Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. She also won a third medal in the form of a silver medal. She won gold medals in the women’s individual compound and mixed team events in Hangzhou, besides winning a silver medal in the women’s doubles.
Sheetal was born with a rare congenital disorder called Phocomelia syndrome which left his organs underdeveloped. Tokyo Paralympic bronze medallist Harvinder Singh finished ninth with 637 points in the men’s individual recurve open ranking round. He will face Seng Lung Hui of Chinese Taipei in the round of 32 on September 4.